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Tuesday 27 July 2010

Cheap Books

I'm using my own funds to start this company. Therefore, keeping cost contained is my priority. Since I have to construct the prototype myself, I have no choice but to learn the skills that is needed. Of course the Internet has all the knowledge that I needed, however, I find that it is not convenient to read from the monitor. I still prefer the traditional book.

To obtained the books that I needed, I choose to buy secondhand books. They are usually 80% lower than a new one. Two Websites that I obtained go to obtain my secondhand books:
  1. BetterWorldBooks
  2. AwesomeBooks
I believed that they sell the cheapest secondhand books with the lowest postage. The cheapest book at BetterWorldBooks is USD3.98, the postage to Malaysia is USD3.97 per book. For AwesomeBooks, the cheapest book is priced at GBP1.99 while the postage is GBP2.99 for the first item and GBP1.49 for the rest. Based on my shopping experience, BetterWorldBooks has a wider choice as compared to AwesomeBooks.

Anyway, by selecting the cheapest choice, my cost per book is about MYR25.00. This is much lower than what you can find in MPH. New technical books cost at least MYR80.00. Some can be as high as MYR150.00! This is too expensive. Of course the book is a little bit outdated, but it is still useful to me as I'm only learning the fundamental ideas. Any information for new features can always be obtained from the Internet.

If you know of a Website that sells cheaper than the above, please do let me know!

My Dream

I stayed in Germany for 3 years. In Germany, you can find all the info in the Internet. Back here in Malaysia. I cannot even find the information concerning the bus route in the place I stayed. Many companies just don't bother to use the Internet to enhance the efficiency of their business. What a disappointment!

Actually, I had this idea of consolidating all the information in a Website 5 years ago. It didn't take off because I was working at MMU then. Too busy with teaching for me to do anything. Furthermore, I was drawing a steady income. No point to resign and take risk to start my own business. Well, now I'm out of work due to funding problems in job in Germany. As I'm officially out of employment, I have nothing to loose. Therefore I'm embarking the dream that I had 5 years ago.

SaversHub is a Website where you can get all the information for our daily activities. I can't tell you more until I come out the prototype. Speed is an essence and I can't effort other to beat me to that. Failure is not an option!

The intention of this blog is to document my journey in setting up this new Web service. I'll post up the milestones that I have achieved or any ideas that I have. I have 1 more month to get my prototype out before the end of this decade.

Hopefully, SaversHub will become the Google of our physical world.